Vardian Log #11: Cleaning Up After the Quaesitor, Part I

Season: Fall, 1200

The People:

Acutus of Ex. Misc.				Magus		(DougO)
Antionne of Quaesitor				Magus
Aquilonius of Elementus				Magus		(Shannon)
Certus of Bonisagus				Magus
Chavin of Tytalus				Magus
Comburo						Salian's Grog
Demorar of Quaesitor				Troublemaker	(Billy)
Durus the Unfriendly Ghost			Ghost		(Eric)
Flamma of Flambeau				Maga		(Eric)
Giovanni the Thief				Grog
Lamneth Tiresias				Healer		(DougO)
Marius of Tytalus				Magus		(Phil)
Medicus of Jerbiton				Magus		(DougL)
Meles of Criamon				Magus		(Dave)
Myrta						Grog Captain	(Dave)
Restitius of Verditius				Magus
Salian of Merinita				Magus
Statzen of Quaesitor				Magus
Taron of Bonisagus				Magus
Terano						Grog
Tiburus of Quaesitor				Magus
Veritus of Mercere				Redcap		(DougL)

**
** From the Diary of Aquilonius

Having nothing better to do, I decided to attend the Council Meeting at
the start of fall.  At first, it was as boring as all of the other Council
Meetings, utterly devoid of useful information.  A redcap arrived to tell
us that Literatus would expect people to arrive in Spring of 1201, and
further said that due to the large size of our Covenant, at least two
people would be expected to attend every year.  A new magus by the name of
Medicus arrived, and was welcomed into the Covenant.  He's another member
of Jerbiton, and his attitude towards the Mundanes begins to make me ill.

However, things took a turn for the better when the other magi began
trying to prove who was the biggest fool.  Marius, a newly arrived Tytalus,
Certamened Chavin, and was beaten soundly, and several other Certamens were on 
the verge of breaking out, when three old magi entered our Council Room, unannounced.

They introduced themselves as Tiburus, Antionne, and Statzen, all of House
Quaesitor, and said that they had been sent from the Normandy Tribunal, to
help out our poor Tribunal.  At their Tribunal, they had decided that the
Covenants in the Roman Tribunal were all too self serving, and needed to
be better more united.  Thus, the Normandy Tribunal had took it upon
themselves to send three of their best judges to help us ailing magi.
Arrogant fools!

These vain Quaesitors went on to say that they had viewed many troubles in
Rome.  They said that it was very violent up there, and that Faeries
plagued the outer regions at night.  People were being driven to the
Church, and the Dominion was increasing to even greater levels.  Even
worse, they said that the problem was all our fault, for we had known of
the demonic swords that were causing the problems, and had ignored them,
and we (or more specifically Demorar) had sent the faeries up to Rome.
They were, of course, quite correct.  The problems had all been caused by
letting Bonisagus magi try and deal with our problems, and I remember
being quite upset at the times of the misadventures.  Now, it seems so
much more trivial, and I can't help but wonder if the Mundanes deserve
what they have gotten.  Still, the Quaesitors demanded that we fix the
problems that we had caused, for they could have an impact upon the whole
Tribunal.

Taking the right tact in view of this information, Meles, Marius and
Medicus all showed their extreme concern.  Quickly, they slipped off to
the ruins of Vardian's Stand, where they fought several Certamens.  The
fool Meles had wished the contests to be there because, with the mists of
the Stand's open magical device covering the area, it was a place where
Twilights could easily be had.  Stupid Criamon.

In a fury, Taron finally demanded that the younger magi go and deal with
the problem.  Certus was smirking the whole time.  Flamma made some witty
comment, and, one Certamen later, she was bound to go and deal with the
situation.  Finally, Taron convinced Veritus and Marius to help as well.
The took Myrta and Lamneth, a recently arrived healer, with them, as well
as the two grogs, Giovanni and Terano.  I slipped off, not wanting to help
the ungrateful Mundanes with their problem.  However, I was somewhat eager
to hear what troubles the Magi would cause in Rome Above.

It was just as I expected.  The magi were in Rome for perhaps five minutes
when a bar room brawl spilled out into the street, and they leaped into
it, apparently because some of the combatants were using the demon swords
that the Magi knew were causing some of the problems.  After Myrta and
Marius had killed several people, and retrieved their weapons, they
decided that they should get away, before guards came running.  Showing an
outstanding amount of good sense, Flamma fled too, leaving the city
altogether, to follow her own leads on the problems in the city.

**
** From the Always Slightly Charred Lab Notes of Flamma Incendere

I don't like Rome in the first place.  Then, those fools tried to bring
attention to us, like I need more mundanes chasing me around. Taron will
pay for this someday. I left the others in Rome to face their own
stupidity while Veritus and I headed for the nearby Faerie wood that lies
to Southeast of Rome.  If Faeries are part of the problem, then I can
think of an intelligent way to get them out of Rome.

We arrived at the nice, dry, combustable woods and I got to work at once.
A little bit later, with smoke billowing into the sky, we headed back to
Rome.  On the way, we came across an extremely upset Faerie Magus named
Salian and his grog, Comburo.  Knowing that he must be responsible for the
trouble, I decided to discuss the situation with him rationally.  He
decided to try and magically alter my mind.  After a few minutes, I was
sitting upon his unconcious grog, asking what he knew of the problems in
Rome.  When I got no honest answers, I blew the head of the grog off;
can't have any witnesses.  Then, I charbroilled the Faerie spud.  Well,
actually he magically hopped away just in time and was unhurt, so I did it
four more times. Then, the hoppy bastard passed out from exhaustion, and I
decided it might not be socially acceptable to brag about killing an
unconcious foe. So, I dragged him back to the covenant.

**
** From the Diary of Aquilonius

After Flamma fled, the remaining people in Rome apparently decided to be
rational.  They poked around and heard that people were saying that albino
wizards in the sewers were causing all of the problems.  Even worse, it
seemed that there were a group of religious fanatics who were getting
ready to storm the sewers, and kill all of the albino wizards that they
found there.

Filing this fact away, the Magi remaining in Rome decided that by getting
the demon swords away from the Citizens, they could at least make the
people less violent, and perhaps make sure that the fanatics had no
followers if they began storming the sewers.  So, they began collecting
demon swords, buying some, and stealing others.  As, they did this, they
collected information as well, and learned that the fanatics had been
brought to Rome by a mysterious leader.

**
** From the Correct and Proper Diary of Tiburus, the Great Quaesitor

These Caverns are cold, and damp, and my quarters are too small, and
things are constantly getting lost, as if an unfriendly spirit were
flitting around, moving them away.  Indeed, this Covenant is awful, and
made no better by the bickering fools that inhabit it.  Thankfully, I will
be gone quite soon, for the matters are, miraculously, almost totally
dealt with.  Perhaps the fools will be able to clean up after themselves
for a few years, before we come back through Rome again.

Things began to pull together when I was summoned back to the Council
Room, due to the return of that idiot Flambeau, Flamma.  She had brought
with her the Faerie Salian, whom we exiled from Normandy some time ago,
due to the problems that he was causing there.  The clod, Meles, showed
some vestige of intelligence when I stated this, and challenged Salian to
a Certamen at once.  But, before I allowed the battle to be fought, I
demanded information from the Faerie.  He protested that he had not caused
the problems in Rome.  Rather, he had heard that there was violence and
Faeries, and that all was chaos, and had come to join in on the fun.
After that was learned, the Certamen was fought, and the idiot Meles won
the battle quickly, with the result being that Salian was exiled from the
Roman Tribunal as well.  We have a position reserved for him on a boat
heading for the Levant.

Throughout this short period, the Flambeau, acted like a gnat, irking me
until I was forced to lower myself to challenging her.  Of course, I
quickly finished her off, and now she is bound not to speak in the
presence of a Quaesitor, unless she has his permission to.  With the fools
Flamma and Veritus returned to the Covenant, I realized that they had left
a scant handful of incompetants in Rome Above, to deal with other aspects
of the problem, and I decided to personally drag these two with me, going
to Rome Above to be sure that the problem was truly dealt with.

**
** From the Diary of Aquilonius

Marius and Myrta quickly decided that by dealing with the leader of the
fanatics, they could be rid of one of the problems in Rome Above.  So,
they began to track him down, killing several Mundanes on the way.
Finally, they met the one who had brought the fanatics to Rome, and
learned that it was none other than Restius, A Verditius who several of
the magi had met last year.  He had been a participant in the contest at
Verditius, and had been forced to destroy his entry.  Apparently, he had
finally discovered that several Magi of Vardian's Tomb were partially the
cause of this.  Further, he was even more angered by the Faeries that now
plagued Verdi, thanks one more to Demorar, who had sent them there
looking for magical goods.

Thus, he had brought the fanatics to Rome, to cause problems for our
Covenant, in return for the damage that it had done to him.  Additionally,
he proudly stated that he had helped to incite the Faeries there, which,
of course, were in Rome due to Demorar.  Angered, and seeing a chance for
a Certamen, Marius challenged him at once, demanding that he and his
fanatics leave Rome.  Restius beat him easily, and demanded a season of
service as his condition.

Fortunally, Flamma and Veritus arrived at that time, with Tiburus in tow,
and the arrogant Quaesitor began to assess the situation, and came to a
judgement.  Restius, he decided, would disband his fanatics, explaining
that the story of albino wizards in the sewers was a false one.  Demorar,
who had caused these problems, would go to Verdi, and deal with the
Faeries that were there.  It is quite obvious that the Quaesitor let
Restius off the hook, for he had done something much more in violation of
the Code than Demorar had.  Such is the way of Quaesitor, I suppose, to
always side with the one with more prestige.

Myrta, meanwhile, had come up with a master plan to dispose of the rest of
the demonic swords within the city.  He had Marius cast an illusion upon
his sword, making it look like a powerful Christian weapon.  Then, drawing
it out, he was able to attract the attention of the masses, due to the
aura emitted by the blade.  Shouting, he began to draw people to him, and
as they listened, he spoke.  He told them of the evil of the demonic
blades, and how they were corrupting those throughout Rome.  He demanded
that all of these demonic blades be brought to him, and that any one who
wielded such a weapon should have their left hand cut off.

And, the atmosphere of Rome was such at the time that he was able to sway
the masses, for there were many fanatics throughout the city, recently
disbanded by Restius.  And what followed was an orgy of death and violence
that may never be equalled.  Wild men left the plaza in which Myrta stood,
screaming out their loyalty to Myrta and to God, and they slew, and they
killed, and they stole, and piles of swords were brought to Myrta, and
gladly he destroyed them, helping to bring to violence in Rome to an end.

Even now, weeks later, the plaza is known as Dead Demon's Plaza, and the
stones are still stained red.

During the chaos, Flamma and Marius set off to deal with the Faeries, for
their hiding place had been discovered while information was being
collected in Rome.  Marius arrived there first, and the Faeries were
fleeing even as Flamma arrived.  Still, she managed to kill six more
gnomes before they were utterly routed.

Finally, another council meeting was called, and we all learned of the
events that I have just recounted.  The troubles in Rome seemed to be
concluded, for the swords had be destroyed, the fanatics disbanded, and
the faeries driven away.  The methods used were, perhaps, not the best,
but only Mundanes were hurt, and that is truly what they deserve, for they
have shown themselves to be ungratefuls.

Finally, the magi took this chance to show themselves fools again, as
Marius and Flamma fought a Certamen, and then I was forced to meet Flamma
in another.  Now, I am forced to tell others how great she is.  Ah yes,
Flamma is the greatest maga in the world.  Wink.  Wink.  Finally, another
magus arrived, by the name of Acutus, and he was accepted, and I retired
to my lab, to consider the world.